Conveyors: power-driven – Conveyor having impinging fluid to feed – shift or discharge... – Having cleaning means
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-24
2001-02-20
Bidwell, James R. (Department: 3651)
Conveyors: power-driven
Conveyor having impinging fluid to feed, shift or discharge...
Having cleaning means
Reexamination Certificate
active
06189681
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to tools for cleaning an auger, in particular but not exclusively a continuous flight auger, as it is being withdrawn or after it has been withdrawn from the ground.
2. Prior Art
Augers are commonly used in civil engineering applications such as piling, a particular example of this being Continuous Flight Auger (CFA) piling. A continuous flight auger comprises a generally cylindrical elongate body provided with a generally helical blade. Each 360° turn of the auger defines a flight of the blade, i.e. a flight is the space between adjacent, longitudinally-spaced sections of the blade. In use, the auger is rotated into the ground to a predetermined depth at which the downward advance of the auger is halted. The auger may then be withdrawn without further rotation, thereby shearing a “plug” of soil directly from the ground so as to form a bore hole, or the auger may be rotated before withdrawal so as to shear the soil on the flights from the soil which will eventually form the wall of the resultant bore hole. During withdrawal, concrete or grout may be pumped through the auger or down a feed pipe under positive pressure so as to form a cast-in-situ pile.
Upon withdrawal, the flights of the auger are generally loaded with soil, and there is a danger that some of this soil will become locked between adjacent flights instead of falling out cleanly as the auger emerges above ground level. As the auger continues to be withdrawn, the flights with the locked-in soil will be raised to levels some distance (typically up to 20 m) above the ground, and there is a significant danger that the locked-in soil may loosen and fall onto operating personnel on the ground, possibly causing serious injury. This is becoming more of a problem with modern CFA piling techniques, since these often require a tight entry into the ground which results in soil being packed onto the flights in a particularly dense and compact manner.
Traditionally, augers have been cleaned by hand, for example by using a scraping implement and sometimes water jets. This, however, is labour intensive and can be dangerous.
It is known from GB 2 235 480 A (amongst others) to scrape soil off the flights of a rotating auger by deploying a toothed wheel next to the auger in the manner of a worm drive. As the auger rotates, so does the wheel, the teeth of the wheel engaging between the flights and thereby scraping off locked-in soil. This technique is not particularly effective, since only soil locked in a single flight is attacked at any one time. Furthermore, if the auger is being withdrawn rather than merely being rotated out of the ground, then the toothed wheel will tend to miss sections of the auger flights.
OBJECT AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the present invention, there is provided a tool for removing debris from the flights of an auger or other screw-conveyor, the tool comprising a central shaft about which is helically arranged a plurality of radially projecting elements.
In use, the tool is mounted adjacent to an auger with the central shaft being substantially parallel to the auger stem. Advantageously, the tool is mounted in such a way that it can be moved near to and away from the auger in such a way that the projecting elements may be gradually introduced to the auger flights. Cleaning the auger in this manner is assisted by way of soil being packed more loosely between the flights at the top of the auger than between those at the bottom. The radially projecting elements are arranged in a helix wherein the elements are angularly and axially displaced from each other on a central axis, in a manner in which the helix has substantially the same pitch as that of the auger blade. As the auger is withdrawn from the ground, the tool is brought up to the auger and rotated so that the projecting elements engage with the auger flights. The rate and direction of rotation is dependent on the rate of withdrawal of the auger and whether or not the auger is also being rotated. In general, where the projecting elements are disposed in a helix having the opposite sense to that of the auger blade, then the tool must be rotated in the opposite direction to the auger so as to counter flight movement. Alternatively, the projecting elements may be disposed in a helix having the same sense as that of the auger blade, in which case the tool is rotated in the same direction as the auger. The former arrangement may be advantageous in that the angle of attack of the projecting elements on the flights of the auger is increased, and any locked-in soil will tend to be pushed downwards.
It is also possible to clean the auger without continuous rotation upon extraction. The auger may, for example, be repeatedly turned forwards by half a turn and then backwards by half a turn, with the tool rotating accordingly.
A particular advantage of the present invention is that it can be used in applications where an auger is rotated relatively slowly during withdrawal. This is because the projecting elements simultaneously penetrate adjacent flights of the auger. Furthermore, since rotation of the tool allows continuous parallel movement between the tool and the auger, the tool does not need to be separated from and repositioned on the auger as it is withdrawn. This helps to ensure that no sections along the length of the auger are missed. Advantageously, two, three or more tools may be disposed substantially equiangularly about the auger so as to attack soil on the auger flights from a number of directions simultaneously. Such an arrangement, particularly with three tools, also means that any lateral forces which may tend to push a single tool and the auger away from each other may be balanced out.
The tool may be rotated by way of a mechanical linkage which couples the tool to the auger drive means. Such a linkage, which may take the form of a bushing or other driving arrangement, automatically synchronises the rotations of the tool and the auger so as to prevent relative fouling.
Alternatively, the tool may be rotated by way of an independent electric or hydraulic motor. In order to ensure synchronisation with the rotation of the auger, sensors are provided which detect the proximity of the auger flights to the tool. When a sensor detects that the tool and the auger are not in synchronisation, i.e. the projecting elements are not disposed substantially in the middle of each flight, appropriate rotation of the tool is commanded so as to bring the projecting elements back to the mid-point of each flight. On-board instrumentation and computer means may be provided so as to allow complete control of the tool. For example, given the angle of rotation of the auger, the depth change and the pitch of the auger blade, it is possible to calculate and apply the correct rate of rotation to the tool so as to ensure synchronisation with the auger.
The radially projecting elements may take the form of blades, cutting tools, digging tools, brushes and any combination thereof. It is generally preferred to include at least one blade or cutting tool, since soil removal is facilitated by cutting a groove into the locked-in soil so as to allow the same to swell and hence to fall away from the auger. The radial extension of at least some of the projecting elements should be at least as great as the radius of the largest auger with which the tool is to be used. This is to ensure that the flights are cleaned thoroughly. In some embodiments, the envelope defining the radial extension of the projecting elements may be selected to start from the diameter of the central shaft at the lower end of the tool and gradually to increase along the length of the tool until full penetration of the auger flights is achieved. A further feature is that different projecting elements may be arranged along the length of the tool so as to facilitate the removal of different conditions of soil, for example loosely- or densely-packed. For example, brushes can be arranged at the top of the tool so a
Bidwell James R.
Browdy and Neimark
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